Seattle (AP) – Hospitals in Seattle rushed hundreds of people with Covid-19 vaccines in the middle of the night while they were being stored in the freezer.
The cause of the freezer failure on Thursday night is unclear, but UW Medical Center’s Northwest and Montlake campuses and the Swedish Medical Center received more than 1,300 doses they needed to be used before it ended at 3:30 a.m. Friday, the Seattle Times reported Is..
Word of the unexpected dose spread on social media, and a line of promising vaccine recipients knocked on the clinic’s door and through the parking lot at UW Medical Center-Northwest. Hundreds of people lined up at Seattle University’s Swedish Medical Center clinic. The hospital tweeted at 11:59 p.m. that it had 588 doses to give, and by 12:30 a.m., all appointment slots had been taken.
Assistant Administrator at UW Medical Center-Northwest Jenny Brackett was calling and asking if anyone was over the age. Many were too young and healthy to qualify for the Washington State’s current priority category for rush distribution. Brackett said the hospital is doing its best to vaccinate eligible people, but its main purpose was to get him into the arms and avoid waste.
Casey Sau Ray, president of the Washington State Hospital Hospital Association, said anyone who received the first shot on Thursday night would receive a second shot in a two-dose system, regardless of age.
A woman who stepped out of the crowd at UW Medical Center-Northwest, Tyson Greer, 77 77, said she had been waking up at 1 a.m. or 3 p.m. for more than a week to find the search line for vaccination appointments. She finally received a shot from Associate Chief Nursing Officer Carrie Nassenbey at 1 a.m. Friday.
Many of the staff working at the vaccination clinic had been working since 7 a.m. Thursday, Nasenbeni said.
When he got word of the freezer failure, he called several nurses, who recruited pharmacists and other volunteers. The Seattle firefighter showed up nowhere to help and helped the hospital employee’s boyfriend arrange a queue.
Those who scored the vaccine were appreciative. H Sarah Leyden, 57, got the word out from a client of his wife, a hairdresser who is a nurse.
“I just got lucky,” Laiden said.
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